The world is experiencing ariseindestructiveleaders, from politicians in democratic countries extolling the virtues of dictatorship to business executives whosedestructiveappetites overshadow their economic success. Theseleadersseem to reflect the worst, rather than the best, of us. On top of that, more and more qualified people are reluctant to take onleadershiproles. Our currentleadershipmodel is broken.Over the past two decades, Ive studied why wefollowdestructiveleaders. Many organizations have overlooked critical factors in how we select, judge, and trainleaders, and we need new methods to train and new measures to judgeleaders.The answer to our brokenleadershipmodel is improvedleadershipliteracy, but first, we need to reckon with why wefollowdestructiveleaders.Why wefollowdestructiveleadersFirst, wefollowdestructiveleadersbecause we arent that good at judging what goodleadershiprequires. A growing body ofresearchsays we must become better judges of goodleadership. We unconsciously selectleadersthat we deem attractive, not because they demonstrateleadershipskills. We also trust and attribute (undeserved) competence to potentialleaderswho behave in ways that elicit strong emotional responses. We often selectleadersbecause they indulge our fears, or exploit our insecurities and natural desires for self-preservation. These tendencies were first discussed by German sociologist Max Weber over 100 years ago.We also set unrealistic expectations about whatleaderscan achieve. Several years ago, Ianalyzedthe 1996 Mt. Everest disaster chronicled in John Krakauers best-seller Into Thin Air. In these events, inexperienced climbers sought theleadershipof two charismatic but overly optimisticleaders. The expectations of getting to the summit, no matter the cost, contributed to eight deaths. Wefollowdestructiveleadersbecause they tell us what we want to hear. And you can see this exact scenario play out beyond the mountain. I worked with physicians, businessleaders, and government officials whosawthe samedestructiveleadershippractices.The importance of succession andleadershipdevelopmentEffectiveleadershipdevelopment relies not only on how we prepareleadersfor new jobs, but how we move them out. One of the most popular TV dramas is the King Learian drama, Succession, whichfollowsa dysfunctional family in the times before and after the death of the patriarch. Who will be the successor to the billion-dollar kingdom? Or consider the non-fiction public dethroning of President Joe Biden in the aftermath of a challenging debate or the extended dramas playing out in entertainment and media.Leadersthemselves will hold onto power well past their prime. Without formal succession planning to replace aging or ineffectiveleaders, many organizations are doomed to replace newleadershastily and not conduct the necessary due diligence.The key to effectiveleadershippreparationHow we prepareleadersmay be the most critical change we need to make. People analytics firm Visierdiscoveredthat many millennials and Gen Z have avoided becomingleaders. Of course, the reasons for this are varied. But when we followed several hundredleaderson crucialleadershipdevelopment measures, we found that only about25 %of theleaderswe studied had the emotional regulation skills to lead successfully. High-potential workers shy away from becomingleadersbecause they havent developed the skills to succeed, and organizations arent helping them learn.I propose a threefold remedy. First, we must prepare the next generation ofleadersfor the emotional challenges of leading.A comprehensive programwould helpleadersunderstand how they can manage competing demands and competing stakeholder interests. Emergingleaderswould focus on developing resilience in tough emotional times by drawing on their personal strengths.Second, organizations need to reconsider succession planning,leadershipselection, and preparation programs. Goodleadershipstarts with self-awareness.Finally, a program ofleadershipliteracy would go a long way in educating those of us who depend onleaders. This kind of program should mirror how we improve decision-making errors and perceptual biases by showing how we make suboptimal decisions about ourleaders, while clarifying the limits of whatleaderscan do by setting realistic expectations.We can blame ourleadersfor current problems, butleadersget their power and legitimacy from followers. If we want to stopdestructiveleadersfrom taking power, we need to improveleadershipliteracy by equipping potentialleaderswith the necessary skills, and setting the right expectations about what it actually takes to lead.